Grants and Contributions:
Title:
Empowering communities to map rough ice and slush for safer sea-ice travel in Inuit Nunangat
Agreement Number:
993033
Agreement Value:
$446,144.00
Agreement Date:
May 1, 2022 - Apr 30, 2025
Description:
By combining Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ), satellite data and state-of-theart unmanned airborne vehicles (UAVs, or drones), the team will coproduce new information on sea ice and snow roughness and slush for the operational SmartICE Ice Travel Safety Maps. The production of these maps may be piloted in partner Nunavut communities of Arctic Bay, Gjoa Haven, Pond Inlet, Qikiqtarjuaq, and a Nunavik community, and eventually be expanded to all SmartICE communities (>24) in Inuit Nunangat. The approach will be grounded in IQ, and include a co-designed Inuit training program for UAV-based sea ice monitoring to augment the mature environmental data collection developed by SmartICE. The team will adapt UAVs and sensors to collect high-resolution topographic and electromagnetic data for local travel safety maps, as well as ground-truth a series of novel satellite products of sea-ice thickness and roughness, based on optical and micro-wave frequencies. With the Arctic Eider Society partner, a growing network of Inuit Nunangat communities will be able to access in near real-time these new satellite and in-situ data products and SmartICE Ice Travel Safety Maps through the Indigenous Knowledge Social Network platform (SIKU). At the request of the SmartICE Community Management Committees, the local travel safety maps will also be distributed in paper format within communities.
Organization:
National Research Council Canada
Expected Results:
In the short term, anticipated outcomes will be strengthened collaborations across industry, academia, and government to support research excellence. In the medium term, anticipated outcomes will be the development of new and potentially disruptive technologies with collaborators. In the long term, find collaborative solutions to public policy challenges and create stronger innovation systems.
Location:
St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador, CA A1E 1S6
Reference Number:
172-2021-2022-Q1-993033
Agreement Type:
Grant
Report Type:
Grants and Contributions
Recipient Business Number:
720789726
Recipient Type:
Not-for-profit organization or charity
Recipient's Legal Name:
SMARTICE - Sea Ice Monitoring and Information Inc.
Federal Riding Name:
St. John's South--Mount Pearl
Federal Riding Number:
10007
Program:
Collaborative Science, Technology and Innovation Program - Collaborative R&D Initiatives
Program Purpose:
Collaborate on multiparty research and development programs to catalyze transformative, high-risk, high-reward research with the potential for game-changing scientific discoveries and technological breakthroughs in priority areas.
NAICS Code:
541710 - R&D in the physical, engineering and life sciences